Bills playoff hopes damaged with loss to Giants

The Buffalo Bills made crucial mistakes and lost to the New York Giants 19-17 as a result yesterday in a game that seriously damages their playoff hopes. The Bills came into the game rested and seemingly complacent after having a bye week. For some reason they did not take the Giants as seriously as they should and that attitude cost them dearly.

Steve Christie missed field goals of 39 and 48 yards and that along with the perfection of the Giants kicker determined the game.

Cary Blanchard celebrates after kicking winning field goal

With the Bills up 17-16, the Giants drove down and got into field position with only 40 seconds on the clock. Having already made 3 field goals (two of 21 yards and one of 42 yards), Cary Blanchard didn't feel too much pressure.

"When the other kicker misses, it gives you more confidence," said Blanchard. "If you miss, it's a wash."

Explaining his game-winning kick, Blanchard said, "It's all feel. It's like hitting a golf shot. When it left my leg, I knew it was good. This was big, for the Giants and for me. I had to go out there and show I am here for a reason."

The kick of 48 yards was good and sent the Bills and Doug Flutie into desperation mode to try to get into field goal position with less than a minute left. Once again, Flutie could not get the job done and the Bills came up short when it most counted.

Flutie had a dismal game. He passed 32 times and completed 15 for 184 yards. Flutie and one touchdown pass, a screen to Thurman Thomas and had one picked off, a Hail Mary on the last play of the game. The Bills quarterback was intercepted once and sacked three times.

Kerry Collins, on the other hand, had a solid game at quarterback for the second week in a row as he completed 23 out of 44 passes for 240 yards and one touchdown. He had one pass picked off.

"A lot of people thought last week was a one-game deal," Collins said. "But coming up to Buffalo and winning, it legitimizes it. We didn't think it was a fluke. We played tough, came in here against a tough team in a tough place to play and got a win. That has to really help our confidence."

The Bills now fall to 8-5 and have no hope catching the Colts as they are three games out. With the Dolphins losing to the Jets, the Bills still hold on to second place in the AFC East thanks to the tiebreaker. However, the Bills must win all three of their remaining games if they hope to make the playoffs as a wildcard team.

"We can kiss the division goodbye," Antowain Smith said. "I guess we thought they were going to give us the game."

"It's a big loss for us," said Moulds. "We took a step back today and we have to fight to get back. We just didn't play to our potential. They came in here and outplayed us."

"I can't speak for the defense, but the offense had a lot of opportunities to put the game away," Thurman Thomas said. "We had opportunities to make first downs, and we didn't. There are times when we run into a wall and don't play well on the offensive side of the ball. Today was a prime example of that."

Not only did the Bills have the poor play of Flutie and Christie hurt them, but they also had poor officiating help decide the game in the Giants favor. Two blown calls may have cost the Bills the victory. One came in the first half as the Giants were driving for their first touchdown. Ike Hilliard caught a pass but fumbled it before hitting the ground and the Bills recovered. The refs ruled that he was down and whistled the play dead. When the Bills were trying to get into field goal position at the end of the game, Eric Moulds was clearly interfered with and the refs refused to call interference on the Giants.

"I saw Eric down there one-on-one on somebody and I decided to throw a jump ball to him," Flutie said. "It looked like Eric was trying to fight back to get to the ball, and there was contact. But the officials chose to say ‘If I throw this flag, I'm giving them the game.' For him to throw that flag, he's got to be 100% sure that it was interference."

"We thought it was contact," said Antowain Smith, "but it shouldn't have even came down to that point to leave the fate in the referee's hands. Basically we need to go out there and make plays and we didn't make enough plays out there."

The Bills started the game as if they were going to dominate the Giants. After forcing New York to punt, Doug Flutie came out throwing on the Bills first possession, and he tossed a 36 yard completion to Eric Moulds. Moulds got down to the Bills 49 and was run out of bounds. On the next play, Antowain Smith burst over right tackle for six yards. On third down, Flutie threw to Kevin Williams, crossing over the middle for 9 yards and a first down at the Giants 45. After throwing an incompletion intended for Sheldon Jackson, Thurman Thomas got his first carry of the season for four yards. Out of the shotgun, Flutie attempted to hit Andre Reed and the ball was almost intercepted, so the Bills had to settle for a 50 yard Steve Christie field goal. That was the high point for Christie - it was all downhill from there.

The Giants started out at their own 30 where Collins passed to Pete Mitchell for 9 yards. After getting a getting a first down, Collins hooked up with Tiki Barber for 27 yards down to the Bills 29. The Bills defense stiffened and forced Cary Blanchard to kick a 42 yard field goal to tie it up at 3.

Flutie, who was having a lugubrious day passing, got himself and the Bills in trouble when facing a 3rd and 12 at the Bills 46, Flutie was forced out of the pocket by C. Jones. When sacking Flutie, he got a hand on the ball forced a fumble and Strahan fell on it at the Bills 28.

Ike Hilliard dives for a first down

Montgomery burst over right tackle for 5 yards before being tackled by Phil Hansen. On the next play, Montgomery once again when the same route, this time for 13 yards down to the Buffalo 10. After two incompletions by Collins and a 5 yard offsides penalty against the Bills, Barber ran up the middle for two yards on third down. Blanchard came in and kicked a 21 yard field goal to put the Giants up 6-3.

After the Bills got the ball on the kickoff, Flutie clicked off two straight completions, one to Peerless Price for 8 yards and then a ten yard strike to Moulds. Then Flutie caught Reed crossing from the right to the left side all alone and Reed took the pass and got all the way to the Giants 29, a 30 yard gain. But then Flutie couldn't connect on his next two passes and on third down hit Price for 8 yards, two yards short of the first down. Christie came in and attempted a 39 yard field goal. Chris Mohr could not get the ball turned around properly and Christie kick hit the left upright and was no good.

The Bills got a huge break when Collins fumbled the snap at the Giants 46 and Sam Cowart recovered. But Flutie continued to struggle. He threw incomplete to Moulds. Thomas got the ball next and could only muster 2 yards. Then on third and 8, Flutie passed to Williams and got only 1 yard. Mohr came on to punt. The Bills were able to down it at the Giants 1 yard line and the Bills defense forced the Giants to punt out of their own endzone.

The Bills took over at their own 48. Smith took the handoff and ran around the left side for 8 yards before being forced out of bounds. On third and 1, Flutie hit Sam Gash and the big fullback ran for 8 yards down to the Giants 41. Moulds was the next Flutie target and he gained nine yards to the New York 26. Thomas got the carry next and plunged up the middle for three yards and the first down. Thomas then caught a screen pass and got key blocks by Sheldon Jackson and Ruben Brown to spring him loose. Thomas, showing signs of his old self, dashed down the field and made it in for the Bills touchdown. The Bills had the lead with 1:48 left.

The Giants had just enough time to get down the field and at least get a field goal. On third and six from their own 37, Collins hit Mitchell for 12 yards to the New York 47. Barber was the next Collins target and he made it down to the Bills 42.. After a couple plays and getting only one yard, the Giants were set back another ten for offensive holding. On 3rd and 11 from their own 48, Collins pitched it to Barber who was able to gain 13 yards and get the first down. Collins completed a 20 yard pass to Ike Hillard. Hillard fumbled the ball and the Bills recovered, but the referee ruled he was down. Replays proved that was a bad call and Bills coach Wade Phillips did not challenge it.

Facing a 3rd and 10 from the Bills 14, Collins hit Amani Toomer for the touchdown and the Giants walked off at halftime with a 13-10 lead. The Giants consumed 1:48 on their 10-play 67 yard march down the field.

The Bills took the second half kickoff and drove down the field like they meant business. Flutie started the drive with a 7 yard pass to Reed, followed by a 8 yard run by Jonathan Linton. Flutie decided to scramble for 5 yards and Thomas got 6 more on the next play. Reed caught a 3 yard pass and then Flutie ran for another three to the Giants 25. Then on 3rd and 4, Flutie scrambled to avoid the sack but was tackled out of bounds for a 5 yard loss. Christie came in for his third field goal attempt and his 48 yard field goal was wide right, bringing back memories of the Bills Super Bowl loss to the Giants.

The Giants took over and roared down the field again. Collins hit Hilliard for seven yards and then Montgomery ran over right guard for 9 yards. Collins took off to avoid being sacked for 7 yards on the next play. Montgomery smashed over right guard for 14 yards to get down to the Bills 6 for a first and goal. But the Bills defense finally was able to hold the aggressive Giants offense and Blanchard kicked his third field goal of the game to up the Giants lead to 16-10.

Marcellus Wiley rambles down field with 52 yard interception return

In the fourth quarter, the Giants started yet another long drive. Collins hit Toomer for 6, and then went to Hilliard for ten more yards down to the Bills 50. Going to Hilliard again, the Giants got another big break when Ken Irvin hindered Hilliard and the Bills were flagged for interference. On third down, Collins attempted a pass out of the shotgun. Sam Price was able to get a hand on the pass and Marcellus Wiley grabbed the fluttering ball. Wiley took the ball and tore up the field for 52 yards before finally being hauled down by Hilliard at the Giants 22.

After two incompletions, Flutie finally was able to connect with Bobby Collins for 13 yards and set up a first and goal from the Giants 9. Linton then took it up the middle for three yards. Flutie then scrambled four yards to the two yard line. Linton got the call and the touchdown as he rammed up the middle for the final two yards and the Bills were finally on top 17-16.

"I felt pretty confident," Flutie said. "I thought we were blocking well up front, and thought we had seams and creases and felt like we were moving the ball at times. And when we did move the ball, it felt easy. It took a great defensive play to set us up to get that go ahead touchdown."

The Bills were able to get the ball back and were attempting to run out the clock. However, the Bills were put into the position of going for it on 4th-and-1 on the Giant 41. Linton was given the ball but was stopped short, giving the Giants a big opportunity to get into field goal position.

A day after the bitter defeat, the big debate is about whether the Bills should have punted or gone for it on that fourth and one with a little over two minutes to go in the game. A lot of people in the Buffalo media feel that Chris Mohr had been punting well and would have been able to stick the ball inside the 10 yard line. With the running attack going nowhere all day, people are questioning Phillips' judgement calling the risky play.

"We weren't going to kick a field goal," Phillips defended his decision. "It was over 50 yards. We could punt and try to pin them back, but they still had two minutes left. If they get it on the 20, you only gain 15 yards. If we make a first down, we pretty much win the game. It was riding on one play for us to win, so I thought that was the decision to be made. We ran our best play and they stopped it."

"If we're going to go for it, that was the right play called," Flutie defended Wade Phillips decision to go for broke. "I was very confident we were going to get it."

With 2:09 remaining, Collins took charge of the game and launched a 33 yard drive in 9 plays that got the Giants in position to win the game.

Collins on 3rd and 15 from the Giants 49, threw to Barber right over the middle. Barber was downed right at the first down marker to keep the drive alive. With time running down, and the Giants facing another third down, Collins connected with Mitchell for five yards, five short of the first down. Blanchard came on the field to attempt what could be the game winning field goal. This was from 48 yards out and Blanchard, like he was all day, was true and the Giants were now up 19-17 with only 40 seconds left to play.

Blanchard, who may have been great in kicking 4 field goals, was kicking knuckballs for kickoffs all day. This time he got it down to the Bills 19 where Price fielded it and returned it up 27 yards up to the Bills 46. Here is where the Bills could have used a Jim Kelly. Instead, they had to rely on Flutie, who has not been too successful making last minute comebacks for the Bills. His first pass fell incomplete to Reed. The Bills were penalized for offensive holding on Moulds and the ball went back to the 36. Second down and another incompletion was thrown in the direction to Price. On third down Flutie threw to Moulds, but he was interfered with and Moulds was adamant about no flag being thrown.

"I thought it was going to be an interference call," said Moulds. "I had a chance to catch the ball, but the ref - I can understand from where he's coming from, he was just letting us play and things like that. But you know, in a situation like that and the game's on the line, you've got to make calls. It was contact. He was looking for the ball and it's contact, it's pass interference. It's automatic. If he's not looking for the ball, it means he's space guarding and that's by the rule."

When asked if the ref said anything, Moulds replied, "He just said it was a body-to-body thing and he didn't see him looking back for the ball. That's all he said. The game's on the line and he doesn't want to step up and make the call."

Now the game hinged on this last fourth down attempt from the Bills 36. Flutie threw a Hail Mary, hoping to perform a miracle like in his famous Boston College days. But Bashir Livingston picked it off and returned it 34 yards to end the game.

The Bills running game was all but abandoned in this game. Thomas, playing his first game since going out with a liver contusion on the opening play from scrimmage in the Bills first game against the Colts, ran 8 times for 15 yards. Linton got the ball 8 times for 17 yards while Smith, still bothered with his turf toe, was the leading Bills running back with 19 yards on six carries. Flutie picked up 25 yards on six scrambles.

When asked why the Bills didn't run the ball more often, Flutie replied, "It's never too late to run the ball. We're just a little inconsistent. Antowain's foot is bothering him a little bit, you can see it. That's why towards the end Jonathan got back in there."

The Bills defense once again prevented an opposing runner from gaining 100 yards. The last one to do so was Edgerrin James of the Colts in the first game of the year. Joe Montgomery came the closest by gaining 77 yards on 20 carries. Tiki Barber got 6 yards on four carries and Amani Toomer had a 4 yard carry.

It was through the air that the Bills got stung. Barber had 8 receptions for 90 yards, while Hilliard had 6 for 62. Toomer grabbed three for 35 yards.

"It's fun," Collins said about taking the Giants down the field for the winning field goal. "It is fun to drive the ball down the field like that. It tests everything you're about as a quarterback. Hopefully I can be the kind of guy this team looks at and is able to bring a team back in the last two minutes, because that's part of the job as a quarterback."

The Bills receiving corp came into the game hoping to take advantage of the Giants banged up secondary. Instead, they couldn't get the job done as only Thomas caught a Flutie pass for a TD. Moulds had 3 grabs for 55 yards. Reed also had three catches for 40. Thomas had 2 for 35, Bobby Collins caught 2 for 20, Peerless Price had 2 for16, Kevin Williams caught 2 for 10, and Sam Gash had one catch for 8 yards.

"I think too much was made of the players they had out, Phillips said. "They've got some good players."

"I don't know if I've ever been as proud of a team," said Giants head coach Jim Fassel. "Even with the injuries, the attitude was that we were going to fight."

"We had a couple of opportunities to score points and we didn't get it (done)," said Flutie. "We tried a couple of times to hammer the ball and that put us in the third down situation and the ball gets deflected or tipped. It happens."

"It's easy to bounce back from a loss," Flutie said. "It's tough to come back from wins. When you're winning, your confidence is going and it is easier to get into a complacent mode. When you lose, it's more of a feeling of desperation."

The Bills will have to discover that feeling of desperation in their next three game if they want to make the playoffs. Next week they travel to Arizona for a Sunday night game with the Cardinals.

Copyright © 1999 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.